This post is intended to stir up a little interest in growing some fruit that doesn’t always get good reviews about their difficulty to grow and the taste of home grown fruit vs common store bought. I’m going to start with a disclaimer saying that most of my experience has arrived over a short four year period of time and should be considered only as a snapshot in time. Starting with the apple that fills several trays and bags in most establishments, Gala. Many of us prefer a more complex apple and in general I like apples like Pink Lady and Goldrush. I suspect if children were to be the ones choosing, Gala would be high on their list. Sweet apples are high on their list. Back at my home I have a tree of Gala that has started fruiting and they taste very good to me picked fresh from the tree and at that stage have some extra qualities I don’t find in the store bought ones. My Gala appears to be the original as it doesn’t take on much red as the sports from it does. As of now it has been one of my least prone varieties to have disease problems. The Pink Lady is one of my favorites and it has had a minimal amount of problems to grow. It typically has a little CAR but not enough to pose much of a problem. The Pink Lady unlike many apples seems to handle our long hot summer and ripens to an awesome late summer apple. Has any of your fruit trees exceeded it expectations? I suspect some fruit trees just do better in some locations and not so well in others.
I do not grow Gala, but was impressed by its versatility from eating fresh to cooking with it, from its introduction to the supermarket. I feel the same way, however about Mott Pink. It is a medium to small sized apple but is full of flavor, and juiciness. It far exceeded by expectation. It was supposed to be a ‘mite’ magnet, but I do not wear magnifying glasses so I couldn’t see them if they were there. The sprays I use control all or most CAR. The tree has grey-green leaves and the apples turn a bright yellow with pink-red blushes. Once I tasted this apple I rarely buy a store bought apple. The other apple that surpasses all in flavor to me is Caville Blanc d’Hiver. Finest cooking and tasting apple. The first time I ever tasted it was one picked from the Kings Orchard at Versailles. The background might have had something to do with the taste. LOL. I vowed to have that tree in my orchard. I had two, but dug one up and gave it away. The blooms were large and just as wonky looking as the lumpy apple the tree produces. I cannot stand going through the produce part of any supermarket, unless there is a piece of fruit or a vegetable I cannot grow, that I find interesting. I also cannot say enough about my Mirabelles, when we do not have a late frost and all of the blossoms drop. I was shocked to see that they are black knot magnets, however. So pruning out the black knot as soon as you see it is important. Also my sprays of Indar really helped. Also love all of my peaches. Cannot wait to try my dark red peach. If not here then in France. I have to go that far for some excellent peaches and apricots. 
I’m taking out my Frankenplum with Methley. The black knot is too persistent, and I want to keep it out of my good plums.
I’m also a big fan of Gala, I took mine out to make room but sometimes I think of putting it back. It seems like it gets even tastier in the heat, the west coast Gala doesn’t taste nearly as good as mine did. Kidds Orange Red, its parent, is similar. Neither of them had disease problems. Kidds is highly biennial for me so Gala is better for production I would say.
here in vegas, it is a must-have if one enjoys apples. Much better quality than anna and dorsett golden by a country mile, even though anna and dg are what nurseries often advise to grow here. Cripps pink seems to be just as tough to our climate. Sadly though, it seems to be just as susceptible to borers as other apples, and not just anna and dg.
My Gala has gone totally biennial
My gala will ‘meat’ the smoker next spring. The only tree that I have that I count on for FB. Biennial unless heavily thinned and produces blooms all summer long ensuring more FB. Plus, the skin is very tough.
Maybe it’s a false Gala? Never heard of it having tough skin. I grafted over my Enterprise because of the tough skin.
Original Gala, Tenroy cultivar.
Whatever it is, if a tree doesn’t produce fruit you like, getting rid of it is the answer